Her protagonist Lizzie's story is more explosive, beginning with a terrorist attack that she survives by so thoroughly pretending to be dead that she slips into a ghost world, where she meets Yamaraj, a hunky 'soul guide.' The back-and-forth between Darcy's story and her thriller is dizzying, but 'Reading Zealots' like the kids Darcy hung with in high school will love the insider details about the YA writer's life-the intimidating editorial letter, attending BEA (Darcy naively brings her own canvas tote). Darcy's new experiences inform her revision: falling in love for the first time makes her rethink the romance in her book. What follows are two stories, told in alternating chapters: Darcy's path to publication, and the final draft of the book she wrote, also titled Afterworlds. Alas, Darcy has other ideas, moving to Manhattan to do rewrites and deferring admission to Oberlin. Like Darcy, Lizzie too falls in love.until a new threat resurfaces, and her special gifts may not be enough to protect those she cares about most.ĭuring National Novel Writing Month, Darcy Patel, 18, pounds out a 'Hindu paranormal romance' that earns her an advance hefty enough to fund a college education. The Afterworld is a place between the living and the dead, and where many unsolved-and terrifying-stories need to be reconciled. Woven into Darcy's personal story is her novel, Afterworlds, a suspenseful thriller about a teen who slips into the 'Afterworld' to survive a terrorist attack. Over the course of a year, Darcy finishes her book, faces critique, and falls in love. But lucky for Darcy, she's taken under the wings of other seasoned and fledgling writers who help her navigate the city and the world of writing and publishing.

With a contract in hand, she arrives in New York City with no apartment, no friends, and all the wrong clothes. Darcy Patel has put college on hold to publish her teen novel, Afterworlds.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Scott Westerfeld comes a smart, thought-provoking novel-within-a-novel that you won't be able to put down.

Afterworlds book